Tyson Ross nearing return; Willingham on track to come back Sunday

Tyson Ross, out for more than five weeks with an oblique strain, could be back early in July – he’s making a rehab start tomorrow at Triple-A Sacramento and then he’ll make at least one more rehab start after that.

The question then will be: Does Ross return to Oakland’s rotation? Or has Guillermo Moscoso – who is pitching tonight – done enough to stick here? Josh Outman, another fill-in starter, acknowledged the other day that he’s likely to get sent out (probably when Brandon McCarthy comes back early next week), and, Outman said, he was only here in the first place because of injuries and he knows the deal.

Moscoso has been mostly very good, though – he has a 2.68 ERA after seven scoreless against Philadelphia last week. Ross is only slightly higher: 2.75. Do the A’s stick with Moscoso? Or do they go back to one of their top prospects? Does Moscoso deserve to stay with his performance, or should Ross not lose his spot while injured?

These things have a way of figuring themselves out, as everyone kept saying during the Jemile Weeks/Mark Ellis discussion. Usually when it comes to Oakland’s starters, there’s another opening in the rotation shortly after the rotation has been filled back up.

Manager Bob Melvin says that outfielder Josh Willingham (Achilles tendon strain) will be ready when eligible to come off the DL on Sunday. And yes, that’s when Chris Carter would head back to Sacramento to play every day. Carter might get a start at DH on Saturday against lefty Joe Saunders, though.

Many people believe that Carter should be getting more playing time while here, but there never was any indication he’d get much time. And he is getting a lot from this callup, even without playing – he’s watching opposing pitchers and how they approach the A’s hitters. He’s watching how the A’s hitters adjust. He’s watching DH Hideki Matsui, a consummate-professional type, and how he goes about his business. He told me he talks to Mark Ellis a lot on the bench, Kurt Suzuki sometimes, too. That might be more valuable than any 10-day stretch at Sacramento. We all know he can hit at the Triple-A level and his fielding is shaky everywhere. What’s 10-12 days more there?

UPDATE, AFTER THIRD INNING: OK, I’m starting to see the appeal of the “well, the rest of the offense isn’t doing anything” argument when it comes to Carter. It’s not as if this lineup is producing. Could Carter fare worse? Let’s see.